I awoke to see light through the cracks of my door, the sun shining and sweeping the living room with hollow brightness. Three chairs wait our for rising, sleepy astronauts. The coffee pot and tea kettle sit for the order of 1 green tea, 2 black coffees, no more. The water tank pump has a moment of relief with the reduced crew. And saying the toilet was in better shape is an understatement.

The astronauts awoke, and the hollowness filled with warmth.

Antoine, Lindsay, and I enjoy a casual morning, discussing the evolving commercial space industry and our new roles. We got lost in conversation with the MDRS Director about the rich history of this place we can temporarily call home. I look to my crewmates, now peers, and see the same inspiration and dedication to make this place better. This spirit carried through the rest of the day, as we collected water for the static tank, dumped garbage, and helped repair the tunnel.
As we plan to do the first EVA ever done with a 3 member crew. As we do the jobs of seven.
We are young, fresh in our understanding of Mars, the space industry, and leadership. But we are adaptable, ready for the challenges of today, and dedicated to the future of innovation across borders and cultures. We are truly the generation that will carry humanity to the red planet.

Sol Activity Summary: This morning we rejuvenated a bit. We ate breakfast two hours past our usual meal time. We had a long and engaging conversation with Shannon on a variety of topics, including how to conduct EVAs during this reduced-crew mission. As today was our transition day between our nominal and extended missions, we returned to Hanskville to replenish gas and water and to throw out the non-burnable trash. After that, we fixed some of the tunnels connecting to the RAM and GreenHab to make sure they are extra safe. We can’t wait to to return to Mars this evening for our extended mission!

Look Ahead Plan: We plan to safely conduct our first reduced-crew EVA tomorrow and begin to map out the radio communication zones around the habitat. We will also keep track of what methods work best for thoroughly cleaning the ScienceDome floor. We brainstormed numerous project ideas today and will begin to focus on the most practical and meaningful ones starting tomorrow.

Field Season #18

About The MDRS

The Mars Desert Research Station in the Utah desert was established by the Mars Society in 2001 to better educate researchers, students and the general public about how humans can survive on the Red Planet. It is the second Mars analogue habitat after the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station was established in 2000.

Over 200 crews of six-person teams have lived in 1-2 week field visits at MDRS to simulate life on the Martian surface. Researchers and students alike have explored the Mars-like terrain in the area surrounding the station in full “spacesuits”, maintained the station’s systems, grown plants in the GreenHab to support themselves and even recycled their waste water.

Our activities at MDRS are not only about informing the public, but also conducting real research to bring humanity that much closer to the reality of human exploration on the planet Mars.

Annual field seasons at MDRS run approx. October through May. Anybody can apply to be on a crew, and we also need volunteers to help with the project.